I am helping @ashwinnag.bsky.social with an important project trying to understand what makes decentralised platforms like Bluesky prosocial. Anyone who sees this message and cares about the state of online platforms is eligible to participate - we'd really appreciate your help.

how come world shattering revelations like this come out about the tech industry and it's leaders on a regular basis yet it has no real world consequences on them. in fact, governments are pushing the tech down our throats

More than 20 others were injured in the attack, which came hours after the funeral of the head of Hamas’s armed wing.

🥴 One of the issues with the present community notes structure on social media platforms (in addition to the fact that they aren't often fast enough to head off misinfo spread) is that they can be vulnerable to brigading tactics...and now, AI-based bot 'fact checkers'...

AI detection systems are optimized to identify manipulated humans, not synthetic environments, disasters, or infrastructure, write shirin anlen and Zuzanna Wojciak. As generative AI increasingly permeates climate-related misinformation, this limitation will become more visible and more dangerous.

Is digital sovereignty the silver bullet that can solve world problems and make online communication safe, equitable, and truly beneficial? In this Conversation article, Dan Angus and I unpack what “digital sovereignty” really means for everyday users of digital technology. tinyurl.com/5eya2d8p 1/5

EOI: Postdoctoral Research Associate The QUT Digital Media Research Centre is currently seeking applicants for a 12-month Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) position to contribute to an ARC Laureate Fellowship project. Applications close 19 June 2026. research.qut.edu.au/dmrc/wp-cont...

Happy to have another piece out in @crikey.com.au today, about the decline of The Daily Wire. www.crikey.com.au/2026/05/14/s...

This counter terrorism white paper designating “pro-transgender groups” as terror threats to be neutralised is monstrous. Shame on the US administration, shame on US allies that continue to treat this as normal or acceptable. www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...

The Queensland Government’s safety concerns about e-bikes and scooters reads like this article from The New York Times in 1894… — timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine...

finally, perspective grid knowledge will be useful irl

Hello world, I'm moving down to Melbourne in a couple of weeks right around the time I lodge my thesis for examination. If you're an Australian-based academic looking for an RA with expertise in AI, literary/critical theory and digital media, please get in touch!

Re-sharing this since BlueSky was down yesterday ~

So happy to have my first journal article published today! I argue that LLMs animate a paradox in which similarity only emerges through difference. I show how this paradox is operationalised by LLMs as they generate a natural language response (1/2) link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Whether you use, develop, or moderate decentralised social media, your ideas for making these spaces safer and more welcoming matter. Join our ongoing asynchronous brainstorm and share your thoughts. Signup form here forms.office.com/r/mMbjjvXgXB Project details here tinyurl.com/44adp9cx

"A $10K Bounty Awaits Anyone Who Can Hack Ring Cameras to Stop Sharing Data With Amazon" www.wired.com/story/a-10k-...

Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has passed away at the age of 84. My thoughts are with his family. I wanted to share this clip from his appearance on Sesame Street in 1971. His important words ring just as true today as they did back then.

“In times of crisis Australians are great at doing the right thing morally and socially, which is also the smart thing economically. What would it take to do so all the time?” - Lukas Ringland Read the full piece on The Point: https://theaus.in/3OeQxqx

A must watch.

Many of my friends who have adopted Ring style doorbell cameras aren’t aware that these technologies serve markets far beyond the front door. I get the anxiety and the ‘what if’ logic of security, but these cameras give me the ick! Keeping an anxious poodle is a better security option imo

As always - remember this is what they do when they know they are being filmed.

Brisbane showed up for Palestine tonight 🍉

Bannon (and his buddies) are using an informational strategy called reflexive control that intentionally exploits the reaction of his adversaries (on the left) to inflict damage on their own side. Don't become an unwitting agent in their information operation.

Any time Sky News Australia comes up in discourse, please feel most welcome and free to cite this research, which shows empirically that is is a propaganda machine. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Hey BlueSky, most of you have access to internet connectivity that the people of Iran currently do not. Do me a favour and share this podcast episode from the DMRC Digital Publics group. We can no longer accept catastrophic silence. Solidarity means paying attention and creating visibility

theconversation.com/iran-protest... Great article contextualising the crisis in Iran and how it connects with rising authoritarianism and erosion in institutional trust and trustworthiness

Hundreds of faces among thousands, truly gutted by the atrocities we are seeing the Iranian regime perpetrate on its own people

We've analysed new videos published by @vahid.online that show rows of body bags at the Kahrizak mortuary in Tehran on 10 January. We've counted at least 186 bodies in one clip and at least 178 bodies in another, although the true figure is likely much higher. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Extremely important & timely piece by @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social of WITNESS on the informational complexities around the protests in Iran, describing the “epistemic fog”, the blackout of communications, and powerful efforts to frame and reframe the protests and the brutal response from the regime.

📢 PhD Scholarship at QUT to join my DECRA project "Democratic Resilience Online: Strengthening Public Opinion Formation Amid Digital Threats" @qutdmrc.bsky.social 📅 Applications close: 13/03/2026 More info here: www.qut.edu.au/study/fees-a... Please share and reach out if you have questions!

The first reports of the harms of the social media ban is having on vulnerable kids are out. This is what happens when policy is designed without listening to experts, not tackling the problem of harmful algorithms and business practices and just banning people from accessing parts of the internet.

Meanwhile

Australia's social media ban for children under 16 begins today. Our explainer paper provides an overview of the complex issue of social media bans for young teens, explaining the technical challenges, potential risks, and specific concerns voiced by parents and carers. Read it here: qut.to/1ww5%

Our new article shows how the trend of data dismantling and artificially creating data scarcity about key public issues is affecting scrutiny and journalism investigations. Great working with Mathias Felipe de Lima Santos, @antmandan.bsky.social @tjthomson.bsky.social 360info.org/governments-...

PhD researcher Kate FitzGerald has a new article out in The Conversation today looking at generative AI chatbots and conspiracy theories.

👋 So hello world, we did a thing. 🎁 Might be useful for some people ? #misinformation #disinformation #fakenews

Here's a new resource from @qutdmrc.bsky.social to explain #problematicinformation (and its various forms), harms, tips to help navigate online info environments, and what can be done. Access and download here: research.qut.edu.au/dmrc/explain... #informationintegrity #misinformation #disinformation

"Research shows that features like Face ID and fingerprints enable violent, forced phone access by police and authorities" the-decenter.ghost.io/the-body-as-... by Afsaneh Rigot

What happens when Google stops sending you to websites & starts answering questions itself? In this podcast episode ADM+S researchers Ashwin Nagappa, Oleg Zendel & Sara Al Lawati discuss what the future of search means for all of us bit.ly/48zWDK9 #GoogleSearch #AIMode

📢2026 Fellowship applications are OPEN!📢 If you are someone looking to inform technology policy through rigorous original reporting or policy analyses, we want to hear from you! Apply here: airtable.com/appIrc1F9M5d...

We just released a *big* working paper on Voice AI and Authenticity as part of the ARC CoE for Automated Decision-Making and Society @admscentre.org.au It surveys the history of the tech, emerging issues, and what can be done Check it out at Australian Policy Online here: apo.org.au/node/331920

Join NTEU members this Sunday 24 August at marches across the country in solidarity with Palestine. Find out where it’s happening in your city 👉 nteu.info/24 @nteuact.bsky.social @nteuvictoria.bsky.social

"We need to engage in discourse about how we make sure that we maximise the benefits but minimise any of the other factors that need to be considered." is exactly the kind of running the clock say nothing quotable over media trained blandfest that I was talking about in my last post.

When I see a GenAI celebrity images in the wild I often find it as many likes/reacts but also a heap of critical comments. I find it interesting how the boundaries around GenAI and meaning making/cultural participation are debated whenever an event like this occurs. TW: AIGC & Trump imagery incoming

Making atmospheres of emotionality which serve as functional "breathability" which serve in place of "truth" in the face of epistemic & climate collapse is how they get away with not having any bread to give. It's not bread & circuses any more. It's all circus-as-emotional and psychic safety zone.

Applications are now open for two scholarships at QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre. Investigate how 21st-century media changes and challenges the social role of media by gathering detailed evidence about how Australians use media (all forms, old and new). More information here: qut.to/28a6y

Who knew the Butlerian Jihad would be so Catholic